There are a variety of fields in which rapid gathering and transfer of information is desirable or critical. In the field of emergency medicine, for example, the expeditious gathering and transfer of information regarding a patient's condition can have a primary effect on the outcome of an emergency situation. For example, without patient information prior to arrival at an emergency department, current national average door-to-dilation times are in the range of 104 minutes. In other words, a cardiac patient arriving at an emergency department may be delayed up to 104 minutes for dilation. This extended time can have a profound impact on patient health and survival rates.
Presently, several systems and methods exist for acquiring patient data and forwarding the data to qualified personnel at the emergency department prior to patient arrival. None of the current methods, however, are capable of transmission of patient vitals and/or transmission of electronic records with sufficiently rapid transmission times. For example, one current method of acquiring and transmitting patient data is to obtain patient data via an Electrocardiogram (ECG) device and perform transmission of the data by wireless facsimile (fax) via land lines or analog cellular telephones. However, these fax-based solutions can take in excess of two minutes to transmit the data. It is important in an emergency situation to provide comprehensive patient information to a receiving emergency department as quickly and as early as possible during a cardiac emergency, such as for the purpose of expediting the assembly of a catheterization lab team to reduce the aforementioned door-to-dilation time and minimize damage to heart muscle tissue caused by a heart attack.
A number of other devices and methods exist which relate to communicating medical information. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,602,191 is directed to a method and apparatus for a wireless health monitoring system for interactively monitoring a disease or health condition of a patient by connecting an internet-enabled wireless web device (“WWD”) to a health monitoring device which may be a medical device or other health related device. The WWD may be connected to the health monitoring device directly by a wired connection to a generic input/output port of the WWD or wirelessly connected to the health monitoring device, such as via an infrared or radio frequency connection. The health related data is transmitted from the WWD to a server using standard interne protocols. The WWD can be a PDA equipped with a wireless modem.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,589,170 is directed to a medical telemetry system provided for collecting the real-time physiologic data of patients (including ambulatory patients) of a medical facility, and for transferring the data via RF signals to a real-time data distribution network for monitoring and display. The system includes battery-powered remote telemeters which attach to respective patients, and which collect and transmit (in data packets) the physiologic data of the patients. The remote telemeters communicate bi-directionally with a number of ceiling-mounted RF transceivers, referred to as “VCELLs,” using a wireless TDMA protocol. The VCELLs, which are hardwire-connected to a LAN, forward the data packets received from the telemeters to patient monitoring stations on the LAN. The VCELLs are distributed throughout the medical facility such that different VCELLs provide coverage for different patient areas. As part of the wireless TDMA protocol, the remote telemeters continuously assess the quality of the RF links offered by different nearby VCELLs (by scanning the frequencies on which different VCELLs operate), and connect to those VCELLs which offer the best link conditions.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,485,416 discloses a physiological monitoring apparatus comprising a cellular phone handset connected to a cellular phone network. The handset includes a removable battery container (12) having a physiological monitoring device (14) contained therein as well as a battery power source (13). The battery pack container 12 has contained therein a battery power source 13 together with a bio-aquisition unit 14 which is preferably an ECG monitoring device which formulates the results of electrical cardiac activity detected by a bio sensor 15 which are preferably electrodes which are fixedly attached to the container 12.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,443,890 discloses a system and method for monitoring patient variables in a wireless mode via a patient worn monitoring device. The patient worn monitoring device connects to a variety of bio-sensors with at least one microphone for voice communications. The pertinent worn device connects to a wireless network and thence to the internet for transmitting voice and data to a health care provider. The health care provider communicates with the patient worn device via the internet and the wireless network to send instructions to the patient worn monitoring unit and to communicate via voice with the patent. According to the patent, among the data that can be transmitted is a digitally sampled electrocardiogram.
Despite existing technology, a need still exists for apparatus and methods which can acquire critical patient data and provide more rapid, reliable and/or accurate transmission of the data to a hospital or other emergency care facility to reduce overall transmission times and increase the patient's chances for survival.